Lyman Beecher ( 1775- 1863) represents the religious dimension of Whiggery.
The son of a blacksmith, Beecher made himself one of the country's leading
preachers and fathered one of our greatest literary families; its best remembered member is the novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe. A combative man, Beecher found himself continually caught up in controversy. In theology he
was a Calvinist of the "new school" and was tried for heresy by more
conservative churchmen. (He won acquittal.) He engaged in many crusades
against what he took to be evils -- among them intemperance, Unitarianism,
and slavery. His years as president of Lane Seminary in Ohio were among the
stormiest of all; a rebellion by disaffected students against the trustees led to
the founding of Oberlin College.

This statement shows Beecher in a characteristic mood, calling for help in
establishing Protestant colleges on the frontier to counteract the influence of
the colleges Catholics were starting. He delivered the address in various cities
as he toured the country in search of funds. There was a strong streak of
nativism and anti-Catholicism among many Whigs; occasionally these
feelings provoked mob violence. Here, however, Beecher is trying to appeal to
reason rather than prejudice. As to how well he succeeded, readers are likely
to differ.

It was the opinion of [ Jonathan ] Edwards that the millenium would
commence in America. When I first encountered this opinion, I
thought it chimerical; but all providential developments since, and all
the existing signs of the times, lend corroboration to it. But if it is by
the march of revolution and civil liberty that the way of the Lord is to
be prepared, where shall the central energy be found, and from what
nation shall the renovating power go forth? What nation is blessed

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